Gone fishing (okay, not fishing, but still gone)

All, I'm taking the next week off, but you're going to be in excellent hands: Adam Serwer, who you undoubtedly know from his blog at the American Prospect, will be running this site through next weekend.

Please treat him well, and I hope you readers and commenters will help him keep the conversation going at the high level I've come to appreciate so much from all of you. I'll be checking in periodically, but won't be back in full force until September 7th. Enjoy.

Welcome, Adam. I read your blog every day at American Prospect (while I'm on sabbatical.I expect a time shortage soon); and Greg, enjoy your vacation! in other advanced countries, besides our benighted one, every worker has a paid guarenteed vacation, longer than than the 1 or 2 weeks most unionized workers may get here.

Just caught the fact that you're out for the week Greg, lucky........... Have a great relaxing time. We'll try to behave, but there's no guarantees. Here's a pretty line from Obama's interview with Brian Williams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Asked about persistent accusations that he wasn't born in the United States, the president responded, "I can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead."

"The metrics noted...are what a rational person would consider of rather significant importance re that "bestest" thing."

Ah yes. Anyone who deviates from The World According To Bernie is banished to the realm of the irrational.

"Pick another set of metrics."

Well, one could use GDP as a measure, where the US out-produces the next closest country by more than 2 to 1. And one could use charitable giving as a measure, either in the public sphere where US taxpayers out-give the next most benificent country by more than 2-1, or as a measure of private giving, where numbers are harder to come but one estimate puts it at over 3 times as much as the next nation. Or one could point out that the US is and has been far and away the primary sponsor of the world's largest international peace organization, the United Nations, where the US alone covers almost over 20% of the operating budget, over 25% of the peacekeeping budget, and all in contributed over $6 billion to the organization last year.

But a metric more to the point of my original would be the fact that more people across the world immigrate to the US than to any other nation, and even more want to. According to a Gallup poll, about 700 million people want to migrate to another country, with 24% of them desiring to move to the US, more than any other nation. In other words, when it comes to actually making real world decisions about one's own life, as opposed to the abstract theorizing of egghead intellectuals, the hoi polloi vote with their feet. How ironic that some of those feet turn out to be owned by those very same egghead intellectuals.

Sue, I was thinking about people like TEC when I saw his comment. Dealing with the Republican Tea Party set really is like having a debate on astrophysics with a 3rd grader. Except the 3rd grader is rude and has ADD. Honestly, it's no wonder nothing gets done in this country when one of the parties in the dialog is truly unable to act like adults.

Sue, I was thinking about people like TEC when I saw his comment. Dealing with the Republican Tea Party set really is like having a debate on astrophysics with a 3rd grader. Except the 3rd grader is rude and has ADD. Honestly, it's no wonder nothing gets done in this country when one of the parties in the dialog is truly unable to act like adults.

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